Life Is Unforgiving
by evilmanray
Summary: AU. Harboring feelings for one's own brother is not something pleasantly looked upon. Alfred's secret bears a heavy weight on his mind, until he signs a contract with the bored devil, and rearranges both his life and his brother's. America/Canada.
1. Prologue

**Title**: Life Is Unforgiving

**Pairings**: America/Canada (Russia/China, France/England, Germany/N. Italy)

**Summary**: AU. Harboring feelings for one's own brother is not something pleasantly looked upon. Alfred's secret bears a heavy weight on his mind, until he signs a contract with the bored devil, and rearranges both his life and his brother's. America/Canada, Alfred/Matthew.

**A/N**: Haha, another fic from me! I'm more a Russia/China author, but after seeing the play _Damn Yankees!_, I was inspired to write something along those lines for America/Canada. But, for those of you who know me for my Russia/China, they're in here, just in case you didn't read the above. And so, without further ado, I present to you this fic. By the by, I am writing this and another fic, and that one really has more of my focus, so this will probably take awhile to update.

This is short, as most prologues are.

* * *

"Alfred, I'm going to bed now."

"Night, Mattie. Do I get a kiss?"

_Please, let the answer be 'yes'._

"… Good night, Al."

Matthew stood up from his seat on the couch, his half of the blanket falling to the floor, and grabbed an irritated Kumajirou from his comfortable dog bed. He left the living room without so much as another word, only a wave over his back. Alfred watched him go with an aching heart that only ever would beat for his brother. Why couldn't things have been different? Why did Matthew have to be his younger brother? Scrubbing a hand over his face, skewing his glasses in the process, Alfred too wandered away from the couch without bothering to turn the baseball game blaring from the television off. He was in need of some fresh air, for the weights holding down his true feelings were too much to bear that moment. The cool air of that came with midnight hit his face as soon as he stepped out onto the porch of his and Matthew's little house. Oh, how he would love to tell someone that with a romantic insinuation behind it.

Alfred leaned on the railing, holding his face in his hands.

_Why?_

That seemed to be the million dollar question.

"Well, I cannot exactly tell you why, but I can help you," someone from over to his right said.

Alfred screamed and jumped in the air, automatically reaching out to punch the figure in front of him. Instead of giving the other a black eye, his fist went through the figure of the unnaturally tall blonde up in his personal space. The other stared down at him, an amused look to his creepily childish smile and an evil glint in his eyes.

"Who… Who are you?" Alfred breathed. The other chuckled quietly. Alfred eyed his Red Army uniform warily. "You're not some communist who gets his sick kicks by killing capitalists, are you?"

"I am here the assist you, in fact," the blonde said in response. "What reason would I have for killing you?"

"… You swear?" Alfred asked.

"How do you propose that I make myself more convincing? If you do not believe me now, I do not think you ever will."

"You're dressed like a _communist_."

"Oh. Is this way of dressing out of style?"

"… The Soviet Union collapsed awhile back, dude."

"Forgive me. The last time I helped someone must have been a long time ago, then. Ignore the outfit I am wearing currently, please."

"Who _are_ you? Satan?"

"Preposterous! Do not tell me that you too believe that rumor. No, comrade, it is _Ivan_. Not _Satan_. Tell one old lady who is hard of hearing your name, and it is forever going to be ruined, I see." Ivan shrugged. "My name is Ivan Braginski. That last part is made up simply to fit in with the changing times, so just Ivan is fine. It is a pleasure to meet you, Mister Alfred F. Jones of the United States of America."

"How do you know all that?"

"The devil knows all, dear Alfred."

"The devil? You're telling me that you're the _devil_."

"Quite so."

"And _you_ want to help me? What about God? I thought he did all the generous stuff."

Ivan spit on his shoes.

"Alfred, you are so stupid. You think that God is involved with charity? You are extremely wrong. And, if God loved you, do you think that Matthew would be your younger brother?" Alfred gulped loudly, giving Ivan an incredulous stare. The so-called devil shook his head with a jovial laugh. "Alfred, my goodness! Your face is priceless. You thought that I would not know of your issue? If you did not have improper feelings for a close family member, why would I be here? Certainly not to entertain you. Assisting those in need is my profession, and if I may say so, I am the best at it." Ivan's smile grew wider. "And I do."

"Why does the _devil_ want to help _me_? Of all people?"

"Well, let us keep this between the two of us, da? I have been bored for the past couple of decades. Science has evolved, and is still evolving at an alarming rate, so less people are dying. Medicines are being invented to help people live longer. Homosexual relationships are openly accepted in choice states, countries, and the like. Not many religions are being targeted as they were. Slavery is illegal in most places. This world is excruciatingly less… fun. No one needs my expertise. So, when I came across your rather humiliating situation, I could not let it go. I am in need of some good, old-fashioned, devilish recreation. You, dear comrade, are the perfect one to aid."

"Listen… as much as I appreciate the offer… I don't really think talking to you is a good idea…"

"I assure that you my bad reputation was earned unfairly. It is not my doing that causes people to go to Hell. It is his or her own. Yes, I do tempt those in need, as I am doing to you now, but it is their fault that they cannot complete what I expect of them before the amount of time allowed has slowly ticked by. They bring their fate upon themselves. Surely, you will be able to fulfill the requirements within the time frame I will give you. Dearest Alfred, you go around parading about how you are a hero, da? A hero can do anything, including defeating the devil. I assure you that nothing, absolutely nothing, will go wrong."

"Fine. What do you want from me?"

"From you? Nothing, nothing! I will be the key factor in changing things around, as I have the power. Life would be just grand if Matthew was not your brother, I presume. That little detail can be easily fixed with something such as little as a snap from these experienced fingers."

"… You can make it so Matthew's not my brother?"

"Indeed, comrade. All you have to do is make sure he falls in love with you. Today is the first of the month. You have until the next first—one month. If he falls in love with you, he will continue to not be your brother and your lives will go on. If you fail to succeed in doing your part, I get your soul for eternity. How does that sound? Wonderful, I should hope."

_Don't do it,_ a voice rang in Alfred's ear.

He ignored it.

The deal was too sweet.

_He's tricking you!_ the voice continued to scream.

Ivan held out his hand. A hand that, to Alfred, promised everything he ever wanted from life. The devil's alluring smile only further convinced him this was an agreement that would benefit him.

He was a hero, after all.

Alfred took Ivan's hand and shook it.

"Magnificent!" Ivan said, suddenly spirited. "How ecstatic I am to be working with you is something that you will never comprehend! Oh, what a joyous occasion! Here, here. Sign this. It has come to my attention over the millenniums that contracts set things in stone more than a handshake does."

Ivan snapped his fingers. A paper floated in front of Alfred, and a pen rested in his hand. Without even bothering to read the contract above the dotted line, Alfred hurriedly scribbled his signature.

"Marvelous," the devil said, grinning. "Simply marvelous."

* * *

**A/N**: So, yeah. Random plotbunny that had to be written. Just _had_ to be. Now, for your thoughts, please.

R&R


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N**: So was this late or what? /shot

* * *

Alfred woke up to the birds singing, the sun shining through the window, and the sound of an alarm clock.

Something was wrong.

Matthew wasn't attempting to shake him awake. The smell of pancakes and maple syrup wasn't wafting in the air. Something was _definitely_ wrong. Deciding to ponder it later, Alfred smashed the off button of his alarm clock, put on his glasses, and got ready for the day. In the kitchen, there was no note from Matthew. There wasn't even one stuck to the fridge with a magnet. Alfred had even checked his forehead, because Matthew probably would do something like put a post-it note on his forehead just so it would be noticed quickly. Unfortunately, there was no sign of him around the house, even. The house was a mess, littered with all different kinds of papers and trash. Matthew _always_ cleaned up after him. The only decoration on the wall behind the couch was Alfred's American flag. What happened to the one of Canada that was supposed to be right next to it?

It wasn't like Matthew had left him, so something odd was going on.

"Grand, is it not?" someone breathed right next to his hear. Alfred whipped around, only to find Ivan staring down at him, surprised. Oh, right. So last night _wasn't_ a dream, then. Matthew was actually gone. "What?"

"Would you quit doing that?" Alfred asked.

"… I am not quite sure that I know exactly what you are referring to…" Ivan said, tilting his head to the side with a smile.

"Sneaking up on me," the American told him.

"Oh. My apologies."

"How did you get _in_ here?"

"The front door, of course!"

"Let me rephrase that; _why_ are you in here?"

"Do you want me to leave?"

"Dude, yeah. This is kind of my house."

"Too bad!" The devil grinned and patted him roughly on the shoulder. "I live here now. Your lodgings are extremely uncomfortable, but I will suffer through it. It is but a small price to pay for my help, da? Oh, and a very good friend of mine is staying with me, also. Meaning he will also be living here. In your house. Invited by myself. Do not argue. Do you have any qualms with this?"

"… Um, _yeah_, I do."

"Hmm…" Ivan scratched his head for a moment, thinking. "Ah, wonderful! Let me put it in poem form so that way you may understand just a tad bit better. There once was a man named Alfred, his brother he wanted to bed. He could not complete the requirements, so I took his soul instead. Are you getting the 'big picture' now? If you do not do what I tell you, you are automatically put on a one-way trip to my house! Providing space for me was a prerequisite. Perhaps you should have read the instructions presented to you last night?"

Alfred sighed. That probably would have been a good idea.

"Come now, comrade," Ivan interrupted his thoughts. Alfred noticed that the devil was twirling his car keys, and suddenly feared for his life. There was no way he was risking everything by getting into a car with _Ivan_. The other's head would probably hit the ceiling of the car, too. "We must get to work! That is what you human males do nowadays, da? Because the war is over?" Alfred nodded. Going by the other's clothes, he guessed Ivan was referring to World War II. Speaking of which, Ivan really needed to change before someone else realized he was dressed like a Russian communist. "Oh, how unfortunate. And here I was looking forward to slaughtering more Germans. Well, that is not the point. You are a high school teacher that specializes in American History, or so my information tells me. Am I correct?"

"Yeah, that's right," Alfred told him. "Why?"

"From today on, we are coworkers!" Ivan said excitedly, looping a supposedly meant to be friendly arm around the other's shoulders.

"Whoa, whoa, wait. Now you're stalking me while I'm at work, too? That's not cool."

"Stalking? No! I would never stalk _you_, of all people. I am only working there to observe you, of course. Everyone needs a little watching so that way they do not do something absolutely stupid. When I see you, warning bells go off in my head that alert me that you would, indeed, do something terribly idiotic. Consider my presence as my protecting you from your own lack of common sense."

"How'd you get the job?"

"Oh, you did not hear? Well, I suppose you would not have, as this is only the first day of your new life. The poor chemistry teacher met her tragic end over the weekend." Ivan smiled. "Driving a car ten miles per hour over the set speed limitation in the rain was not the best choice she could have made. But, she believed her house to be on fire! So she sped toward home. She had a son she needed to save, you know. I, then, graciously took over her position as a chemistry teacher."

"… You _killed_ her?"

"Me? Kill an innocent woman? Oh, no, no, _no_! Influence her? Da, that I did. A fire in the rain? Who would believe anything so improbable? She did. The idiocy of Americans humors me so."

"So you _did_ kill her."

"Keep saying that and you will be next. I will tell you again that I only try to guide people into making the choices that I want them to. Adam and Eve made the decision to eat from the tree. I only pushed them just a tad."

"Adam and Eve? How old _are_ you?"

"That man who simply _loves_ to call himself God has been alive since the beginning of time. Whenever there is good, there must be a sense of evil to counteract it. You may take from that what you will."

"Okay… Look, dude, do you even _know_ chemistry?"

"Well, I should hope so! Mendeleev was one of my greatest patrons. I helped him create the original periodic table, you know. He wanted fame, so I gave it to him by inventing something scientific. His soul was his payment. Seems as if not reading contracts is a trend that has been around since earlier days, da? Now, do you wish to make us later than we already are? I am itching to start my first job of this time period. Tell me, who is your president now? It is no longer Mister Roosevelt? And who runs the Soviet Union? Stalin was a _very_ good friend of mine! I fought my best for him."

"You _actually_ fought for the Soviet Union?"

"Da. I do believe nineteen forty-four, and the beginning of nineteen forty-five were the years."

"… It's twenty ten."

"Oh my. I have been gone longer than I hoped!" Ivan's hold on his shoulders tightened. "Well, today, I am back in business! Let us… what is that phrase… shove off, da? Da! Let us shove off!"

"Fine." Alfred grabbed his car keys out of the other's grip. "But I'm driving."

* * *

"You know, comrade, the last car I was in was an army vehicle."

"Really? That's _totally_ interesting. I'm seriously listening."

"Splendid. If you are listening, then I guess I should explain all the details you need to know about this right now…" Ivan paused, looking to see if Alfred was actually listening. Well, at least the last sentence had piqued the American's interest. "Your life should roughly be about the same, with the exception of Matthew no longer being your brother. You still have the same friends, the same enemies, and etcetera. Matthew does know you, but he only knows you as an overly zealous and, truly, overly American acquaintance of a coworker."

"Mattie works here?" Alfred asked.

"Why, da! He does! Without you to push him to pursue his dream, that of which I have no knowledge of nor do I care about, he settled for becoming a… French? Da, French teacher."

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

"My friend should be around here somewhere…" Ivan looked around the empty hallways, obviously searching for someone in particular. He frowned when he didn't catch sight of them. "I will go looking for him. I _told_ him to be here! And he is one of the most punctual people I know! What a hassle this is turning out to be. Alfred, you go explore or do whatever an Alfred does best while I scout the area."

"Okay. I'm going to go get set up for the day. Just come to my classroom when you're finished. You know where it is, I bet."

"The devil—"

"Knows all. Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Go look for your buddy and I'll see you later."

"Da! Good-bye, comrade!" Ivan waved at him one last time before turning and heading off in the opposite direction.

Finally, there was some peace and quiet. Ivan had been chattering nonstop ever since they left Alfred's house about a wide array of things, ranging from his war days to _even_ condoms. Alfred had gripped the wheel so tight in the car he was afraid it was going to break. After settling in his classroom, sitting at his desk, he pulled out some papers that'd he'd accidentally forgotten to grade the night before. Maybe watching a horror movie at eleven at night with Matthew (it was only to cling onto him during the scary parts) wasn't the best idea. The blissful moments of quiet only lasted for a few seconds, when Arthur, the literature teacher who taught down the hall, plowed into his room angrily.

"You're a stupid, bloody American!" were the first words out of the Brit's mouth.

"Good morning to you, too?" Alfred said, confused. "What's your problem?"

"_This_ is my problem!" Arthur shoved a paper in his face. "This abomination of a test you gave your students! I reviewed Peter's, because he only scraped by with an eighty on it, and I saw one of the worst spelling errors in my entire life. I am _not_ from the 'Untied Kingdom'! It's 'United', damn it! Of _course_ you spelled 'United States' correctly, but left my country as the 'Untied Kingdom'! Don't you go over your tests before you print them out? This is deeply offensive."

"Oops! I did that on purpose, though, so…" Alfred laughed and shrugged.

"I beg your pardon?" Arthur's face was comically red.

"I knew it would get you all riled up! So, yeah. There you go. Mission accomplished."

"Why… I've never…!" Arthur spluttered indignantly. Alfred only continued to grin. This was too priceless. "Y-You're such a motherfuc—_vexation_!"

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

"I _demand_ that you fix this."

"And how do you propose I do that?"

"I don't know!"

"Then, okay. It's settled. I do nothing."

"You? You are impossible."

"Thanks."

Instead of leaving, Arthur simply hopped up to sit on his desk and crossed his legs. Alfred gave him a look that clearly said 'What the hell are you doing?', but Arthur only raised an eyebrow in return.

"Are we still going out tonight?" Arthur asked.

Alfred nearly choked.

"Um, what?"

"Don't give me that stupid look," Arthur growled. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"Ah, shit, forgot what?"

"You _forgot_."

"I don't know what I'm forgetting."

"You wouldn't! You know what, this was a bad idea!" Arthur threw his hands up in the air melodramatically, as per usual, and slid off his desk angrily. "Excuse me for thinking that since you said were free tonight, that we could go out and do something civilized for once. Ohhh, my _apologies_, Alfred. Is there something more important that you need to attend to?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Alfred floundered. "Did we make plans?"

"Did we make plans?" Arthur snorted. "What happened to the 'Yeah, I'm totally free Monday night, so we can get dinner or go see a movie or both' offer you gave me Sunday night? _Today_ is Monday, idiot."

"I _never_ said that! I was watching a horror movie with Mattie last night!"

"Mattie? Who is _Mattie_?"

"A friend."

"A _friend_, sure. And I'm the Queen of England! He's just a friend, and yet you say that you watched a movie with him last night? You _obviously_ lack memorization skills, because that was me with whom you watched a movie."

"Oh." Alfred nodded. Since Matthew wasn't his brother anymore, why would they have watched a movie together last night? "Sorry, that must have slipped my mind."

"Our date plans must have 'slipped your mind', too," Arthur said, rolling his eyes. "I suppose we should go out to dinner somewhere relatively nice. You'll pick me up?"

"Whoa, what are you talking about?" Alfred stood from his chair. "Back up, _date_?"

"That is what we do, yes. Date."

"_You_? You and me?"

"You don't remember? Alfred, are you all right?" Arthur reached out and touched his shoulder, giving him a concerned expression. "Now you've gone and made me rather worried. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's cool. You're just being really weird."

"Me?"

"You keep saying random things."

"Maybe you should see the nurse before school starts, Alfred."

"Why? I'm fine!"

"If you insist. I have to go back and finish putting together a test." Arthur ran his hand up and down Alfred's arm in a soothing manner, but Alfred stood there awkwardly. "You be sure to speak with me at the end of today to continue our discussion, or else. I'll see you later."

"'Kay." Alfred shook off his hand. "Bye."

The Englishman frowned and, blushing, gave him a kiss on the cheek quickly before leaving. Alfred was going to have to do some heavy-duty scrubbing of his cheek in the shower in order to get the feeling Arthur's lips off of it. Seriously, what just happened?

"I said your life should _roughly_ be about the same," Ivan piped up, materializing out of thin air. Alfred glared. "Not _exactly _the same."

"Right, but do you wanna explain what _that_ was all about?" Alfred asked.

"You do not know?" Ivan laughed. "Dearest Alfred, you and Arthur have been dating for three years!"

* * *

**A/N**: YEAH, IT ENDS THERE. Anyway, I just went to Philadelphia Hetalia Day, and that inspired me to continue this :) I should have the Hetalia Day pictures on my FaceBook xDD SO. I know it said France/England in the first first chapter. You'll see. Can't wait to update this again C:


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